IQALUIT, Nunavut, November 9, 2008…Saskatchewan, skipped by Darrell McKee of Saskatoon, took over sole possession of first place at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, after a 7-3 win over British Columbia Sunday evening at Arniatok Arena.
In a battle of undefeated teams, Saskatchewan motored to a 5-1 lead at the break, after a steal of two in the fourth and one in the fifth, before earning the decision over the Greg Monkman team from New Westminster after eight ends.
The result meant Saskatchewan moved to 3-0 in the 12-team competition, one game ahead of idle Manitoba (Sean Grassie of Winnipeg), also undefeated at 2-0, while three others are at 2-1…British Columbia, Northern Ontario and Ontario.
Northern Ontario (Ian Fisher of Sault Ste. Marie) eked out an 8-7 win over Newfoundland and Labrador (Andrew Mercer of St. John’s), while Ontario (Wayne Tuck of Brantford) hammered New Brunswick (Scott Jones of Moncton) 9-1 in other Draw 4 results. Tuck finished third at the 2002 Canadian Mixed.
New Brunswick, Quebec (Simon Hebert of Thetford Mines) and Nova Scotia (Mark Dacey of Halifax) are next with 1-1 marks, followed by winless Territories (George Lennie of Inuvik), Prince Edward Island (Bill Hope of Charlottetown), Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta (Tom Appelman of Edmonton), all at 0-2.
The round robin continues with draws on Monday at 10:00 am, 2:30 pm and 7:00 pm ET. Upon completion of the round robin on Friday morning, the first place team will advance directly to the final on Saturday, November 15, while the second and third place teams meet in a semi-final to determine the other finalist.
Alberta has won a leading nine Mixed titles since the championship began in 1964 in Toronto, including last season, when Dean Ross of Calgary defeated Ontario’s Bob Turcotte in the final.
The 46th edition of the Canadian Mixed marks the first time in history that a Canadian sport championship is being played in the territory of Nunavut, specifically Iqaluit, located about 2,000 kilometres north of Ottawa.
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